Crystal controlled watch

ABSTRACT

A watch having a crystal controlled watch movement mounted in a watch case is provided with a crystal oscillator circuit, internal manually operative oscillator circuit adjustment means located on the underside of the watch movement adjacent the bottom wall of the watch case, visual time display means, and manually operative internal display adjustment means also located on the underside of the watch movement adjacent the bottom wall of the watch case. The bottom wall of the watch case is provided with external manually operated means connected to the internal display adjustment means for changing the time displayed by the display means, and is also provided with removable access means for providing access to the internal oscillator circuit adjustment means for fine tuning the frequency of oscillation of said oscillator circuit.

United States Patent [1 n] 3,846,972 1451 Nov. 12,1974

Doss

[ CRYSTAL CONTROLLED WATCH [75] Inventor: David Doss, Overland Park,Kans. [73] Assignee: Textron Inc., Providence,,R.l. [22] Filed: Dec. 26,1973 211 Appl. No.: 427,910

[52] US. Cl. 523/23 R, 58/23 AC. 58/50 R. 58/85.5 -[5l] Int. Cl. G0463/00, G04b 27/00 [58] Field of Search 58/23 R, 50 R, 34, 85.5, 58/90[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3,733,803 5/1973 Hiraga58/85.5 3,759,031 9/1973 McCullough 58/8515 l/l974 Yamazaki 58/23Primary Examiner-Edith Simmons Jackmon Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Pennie &Edmonds [57] ABSTRACT A watch having a crystal controlled watch movementmounted in a watch case is provided with a crystal as cillator circuit,internal manually operative oscillator circuit adjustment means locatedon the underside of the watch movement adjacent the bottom wall at thewatch case, visual time display means. and manually operative internaldisplay adjustment means also located on the underside of the watchmovement adjacent the bottom wall of the watch case. The bottom wall ofthe watch case is provided withexternal manually operated meansconnected to the internal display adjustment means for changing the timedisplayed by the display means, and is also provided with removableaccess means for providing access to the internal oscillator circuitadjustment means for fine tuning the --frequency of oscillation of saidoscillator circuit.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures CRYSTAL CONTROLLED WATCH BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to crystalcontrolled electronic watches.

2. Prior Art Crystal controlled electronic timepieces (for example,wrist watches) are well known in'the art. A typical timepiece comprisesa crystal controlled oscillator circuit for generating a high frequencyoscillating signal, a divider circuit for dividing the high frequencysignal into a lower frequency oscillating signal, visual time displaymeans (for example, an array of seven-segment I light emitting diodes orliquid crystal'displays), and a replaceable battery for powering theelectronic components. Manually operative oscillator circuit adjustmentmeans are provided'for fine tuning'the frequency of osdecorative watchcase. The watch case normally has a generally tubular side wall, atransparent top wall secured to the upper peripheral edge of the sidewall, and

a bottom wall secured to the lower peripheral edge of the side wall. Thewatch movement is placed within the case with the time display meansadjacent the transparent top wall. The case is then closed, usually byscrewing the back wall into the side wall. The side wall is formed witha number of openings through which various knobs and/or push buttonsextend which connect with the manually operative time display and otheradjustment means of thewatch movement so as to permit the time displayedby the display means to be correctly set and regulated. As noted, somewatch movements are designed so that the visual time display means willbe illuminated only when the wearer wishes to known the time. In thesewatches the side wall of the case must be provided with an additionalmanually operated push button in order to illuminate the time displaymeans. The need to align the manually operative display adjustment meansand other internal components of the watch movement with the variousknobs and/or push buttons in the side wall of the watch case addsconsiderably to the difficulty and expense of assembling the watch.

The profusion of knobs and push buttons protruding from the side wall ofa conventional crystal controlled electronic watch detracts from theesthetically pleasing appearance of the watch case and contributes tothe possibility of accidental damage to these vulnerable parts.Moreover, although the'watch movement is provided with internal manuallyoperative oscillator circuit adjustment means, the watch can normally befine turned for accuracy only by removing the movement from the watchcase so as to provide access to the oscillator circuit adjustment means.This normally requires return of the watch to the manufacturer atconsiderable inconvenience and expense to the user.-

After an intensive investigation of shortcomings and problems ofconventional crystal controlled electronic watch design, I have nowdeviced a new watch configuration which eliminates the profusion ofknobs and buttons from the sides of the watch case and also provides forfine tuning of the oscillator circuit without removing the movement fromthe case. The improved watch configuration provides for great ease inthe assembly of the watch movement and watch case and adds to theesthetic appearance of the watch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The general type of electronic watch to whichthe invention relates comprises a crystal controlled watch movementmounted in a watch case. The watch movement has a crystal controlledoscillator circuit, manu ally operative oscillator circuit adjustmentmeans for fine tuning the frequency of oscillation of the oscillatorcircuit, visual time display means, and manually operative internaldisplay adjustment means for changing the time displayed by said displaymeans. The watch case has a generally'tubular side wall, a generallytransparent top wall, a generally circular bottom wall, and exteriormanually operated means mounted on the case and connected to the saidinternal display adjustment means. In accordance with the invention, theinternal visual display adjustment means and the oscillator circuitadjustment means are located on the underside of the watch movementadjacent the bottomwall of the watch case. The watch case has a bottomwall that is provided with exterior manuallyoperated means connected tothe internal display adjustment means and it is also provided withaccess means for providing access to the'internal oscillator circuitadjustment means for fine tuning the frequency of oscillation of saidoscillator circuit.

The top wall and side wall of the watch case are advantageouslypermanently secured together, the bottom wall being adapted to bereleasably secured to the side wall adjacent to the lower peripherialthereof. The watch movement is preferably secured to the inner surfaceof the ,bottom wall to form a unitary subassembly that can be readilyinserted in and secured to the open bottom of the side wall of the watchcase. The positioning of the internal time display and oscillatorfrequency adjustment means on the underside of the watch movementpermits ready alignment of the internal adjustment means with theexterior manually operated adjustment means mounted on the bottom wallof the watch case. In addition, the unitary subassembly of bottom walland watch movement can'readily be inserted in and secured to the sidewall of the watch case without the need for troublesome alignment of theinternal watch movement adjustment means with the various knobs and pushbuttons that extend through the side wall of conventional electronicwatch cases. Other advantages of my improved watch configuration willbecome apparent from the following description thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The improved electronic watchconfiguration of the invention will be better understood from thefollowing description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

DESCRIPTION OFPREFERRED EMBODIMENT able battery for providing electricalenergy for the electronic components. Means are provided for manuallyadjusting the time displayed by the time display means, and means areadvantageously provided for fine tuning the frequency of oscillation ofthe oscillator circuit. In

' some cases,manually operative means are provided for activating aspecial circuit that casues the normally dark visual display meansto beilluminated whenever the user wishes to. know the time.

The crystal controlled oscillator circuit typically employs a quartzcrystal that generates an 8,640 kHz signal. The divider circuit dividesor reduces the high frequency signalto, usually, 1 'Hz. The visual timedisplay means may comprise, for example, an array of sevensegment lightemitting diodes or liquid crystal displays. Integrated circuits of. the'complementary-symetrical rnetal-oxide-semiconductor (COSMOS) typeareadvantageously employed. These electronic components are assembledtogether in a compact unit referred to as is provided with lugs 24 forattaching a watch strap to the watch case.

In accordance with the invention, the internal-manually operativeoscillator circuit adjustment means 15 for fine turning the frequency ofoscillation of the crystal oscillator'and the internalmanually-operativevisual display adjustment means 16 for adjusting the time of daydisplayed by the visual display means 14- are located on the undersideof the watch movement 11 adjacent the bottom wall 20 of the watch case12. In the embodiment shown in the drawings the manually operativeoscillator circuit adjustment means 15 is provided with a rotatableadjustment screw 26 by means of which the frequency of oscillation ofthe oscillator circuit may be tuned, and the internal manually operativevisual display adjustment means 16' is provided with pressure actuatedmomentary contact switches'which control the operation of'the timedisplay adjustment means in the manner hereinafter described.

Also in accordance with the invention, the bottom wall 20 of the watchcase is provided with exterior manually operated means 28 and 29 whichcooperate with the'internal manually operative-visual time displayadjustment means 16 for'adjusting the time of day displayed by thevisualdisplay means l4.'In the embodiment shown in the drawings the exteriormanually operated means 28 and 29 comprise. a pair of push buttons(labeled S1 and S2in FIG. 2)'which are aligned and in contact with thepressure actuated contact switches of the time display adjustment means16. Other types of exterior manually operated means can, ofcourse, beemployed provided they are adapted to be mounted on the bottom wall ofthe watch case.

the watch'movment, and the watch movement-is I mounted in a protectiveand decorative watch case. All of .the aforementioned electronic andstructural components, and their assemblytogetherin'an attractive andfunctional unit, are well known in the art and do not comprise, inthemselves, the present invention.

' The present invention comprises-a novel configuration or arrangementof the aforementioned components which greatly facilitates the assemblyof the watch movement in the watch case and which provides forconvenient adjustment of both the time display means and the frequencyof oscillation of the oscillator circuit without removing the movementfrom the watch case. As shown in the drawings, the watch assemblycomprises a crystal controlled electronic watch movement 11 mounted in adecorative and protective watch case 12. The electronic watch movement11 is of essentially conventional design in that it includes a crystaloscillator circuit and a divider circuit (indicated generally byreference -numeral 13), a visual time display means 14, manuallyoperative oscillator circuit adjustment means 15 and manually operativevisual display adjustment means 16. The watch case 12 comprises atransparent (or partially transparent) top wall 18, a generally tubularside wall 19 and a bottom wall 20. A replaceable battery 21 provideselectrical energy for the electronic components of the watch movement.The battery 21 is placed in position through the battery hatch opening22 formed in thebottom wall, the opening 22 being closed by the batteryhatch closure plug 23 as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings. The side wall19 v by the snug contact, preferably a press fit, between the The bottomwall 20 is also provided with access means 30 for providing access tothe internal manually operative means 15 for adjusting the frequency ofoscillation of the crystal oscillator. In the embodiment shown in thedrawings the access means 30 comprises a screw plug (labeled fAlfin FIG.2) which when removed from the bottom wall 20 of the watch case providesac-' cess to the adjustment screw 26 of the oscillator circuitadjustment means 15. r

The top wall 18 of the watch case 12 isfirmly secured to the upperperipheral edge of the side wall 19 of the watch case. The top wall 18may be completely transparent as in the case of a conventional watchcrystal. In the embodiment shown in the drawings the top wall isprovided with a transparent window 32 disposed directly over the visualdisplay means 14 of the watch movement 11, the remainder of the top wall18 being decorated with an opaque or partially opaque design which masksthe other portions of the watch movement from view. The bottom wall20 ofthe watch case is designed to be removably secured (for example, by asnap fit or by screen threads) to the lower peripheral edge of the sidewall 19,0f the watch case. In the embodiment shown in the drawing thebottom wall is provided with avertically extending inner flange portion34 which is designed to fit snugly within and in contact with the innersurface of the side wall 19 of the watch case. The bottom wall 20 issecured to the side wall'l9 inner flange portion 34 and theinner-surface of the side wall 19. A gasket 35 is advantageouslydisposed be-- tween facing surfaces of the side wall 19 and the bottomwall 20 to provide a water resistant seal therebetween.

The watch movement 11 is firmly secured to the inner surface of thebottom wall 20 of the watch case before the bottom wall is secured tothe side wall 19 of the watch case. In the embodiment shown in the drawing the watch movement 11 is secured to the bottom wall 20 by means ofthe screws 37 which are recceived in the threaded boss portions 38 onthe inner surface of the bottom wall 20. Other means for securing thewatch movement 11 to the inner surface of the bottom I wall 20 mayobviously beemployed. When the watch movement 1 l is secured to thebottom wall 20 the exterior manually operative means 28 and 29 areautomatically aligned with the internal manually operative visual timedisplay adjustment means 16, and the access means 30 is automaticallyaligned with the internal manually operative means 15 for adjusting thefrequency of oscillation of the crystal oscillator. The watch is thenassembled by inserting the watch movement into the open bottom of theside wall 19 of the watch case and by securing the bottom wall 20 to theside wall as hereinbefore described. This arrangement eliminates thedifficulty previously encountered with aligning the internal adjustmentmeans of the watch movement with the various push buttons and knobsextending through the side wall of conventional watch cases and therebygreatly facilitates the assembly of the watch.

When the watch is assembled as described the time displayed by thevisual display means 14 is adjusted by appropriate manipulation of theexterior manually operated means 28 and 29 (push buttons S1 and S2). Theparticular manipulative operations required to set the watch to thecorrect time will vary from one watch to another, depending onitstinternal circuitry. Thesequence of manipulative steps employed inone watch embodying the invention are set forth in the following table.

watch being set is synchronized with an accurate time source.

The word open" in the above table means that the switch involved is notbeing depressed, and the word closed means that the switch is beingdepressed.

The frequency of oscillation of the oscillator circuit is adjusted byremoving the screw plug access means 30 to make accessible theadjustment screw 26 of the oscillator circuit adjustment means 15.Clockwise rotation of the screw 26 increases the frequency ofoscillation while counterclockwise rotation of the screw decreases thefrequency of oscillation of the oscillator circuit. lncident radiationfrom the quartz crystal oscillator can be interrogated by an electronicfrequency counter with sufficient resolution to permit adjustment of thewatch to an accuracy of 0.00 seconds per day, and this can beaccomplished by a jeweler in less than one minute without removing thewatch movement from the watch case. This is in marked contrast toconventional watch configurations wherein the watch movement must beremoved from the case in order to adjust the accuracy of the watch. Whenthis adjustment is made with the watch movement outside the watch case,the frequency of oscillation of the oscillator circuit invariablychanges when the movement is reinstalled in the watch case. Thisnecessitates repeated removal, adjustment, reinstallation and testingfor accuracy of the watch movement to obtain a required high degree ofaccuracy. The improved watch configuration of the present inventioneliminates this tedious and time consuming procedure.

I claim:

1. In an electronic watch comprising a crystal controlled watch movementmounted in a watch case; said watch movement having a crystal controlledoscillator circuit, manually operative internal oscillator circuitadjustment means for fine tuning the frequency of oscillation of theoscillator circuit, visual time display means, and manually operativeinternal display adjustment means for changing the time displayed bysaid display means; said watch case having a generally tubular sidewall, a generally transparent top wall, a generally circular bottomwall, and exterior manually operated means mounted on the case andconnected to said internal display adjustment means; the improvementwhich comprises:

internal display adjustment means located on the underside of the watchmovement adjacent the bottom wall of the watch case, exterior manuallyoperated means mounted on the bottom wall of the watch case andconnected to the internal display adjustment means for changing the timedisplayed by said display means. internal oscillator circuit adjustmentmeans located on the underside of the watch movement adjacent the bottomwall of the watch case, and

access means mounted on the bottom wall of the watch case for providingaccess to the internal oscillator circuit adjustment means for finetuning the frequency of oscillation of said oscillator circuit.

2. The watch according to claim 1 in which the top wall is permanentlysecured to the side wall of the watch case adjacent the upperperipherial edge thereof, in which the bottom wall is adapted to bereleasably secured to the side wall adjacent the lower peripheral edgethereof, and in which the watch movement is secured to the inner surfaceof the bottom wall of the watch case prior to securing the bottom wallto the side wall of the watch case.

3. The watch according to claim 2 in which the bottom wall is providedwith a vertically extending inner flange portion, said inner flangeportion being adapted to fit snugly within and in contact with the innersurface of the side wall of the watch case, said bottom wall beingsecured to said side wall by the snug contact fit of said inner flangeportion with the inner'surface of said side wall.

4. The watch according to claim 3 in which a gasket is disposed betweenfacing surfaces of the side wall and the bottom wall to provide a waterresistant seal therebetween.

5. The watch according to claim 1 in which the access means on thebottom wall of the watch ease comprises a removable screw plug.

1. In an electronic watch comprising a crystal controlled watch movementmounted in a watch case; said watch movement having a crystal controlledoscillator circuit, manually operative internal oscillator circuitadjustment means for fine tuning the frequency of oscillation of theoscillator circuit, visual time display means, and manually operativeinternal display adjustment means for changing the time displayed bysaid display means; said watch case having a generally tubular sidewall, a generally transparent top wall, a generally circular bottomwall, and exterior manually operated means mounted on the case andconnected to said internal display adjustment means; the improvementwhich comprises: internal display adjustment means located on theunderside of the watch movement adjacent the bottom wall of the watchcase, exterior manually operated means mounted on the bottom wall of thewatch case and connected to the internal display adjustment means forchanging the time displayed by said display means. internal oscillatorcircuit adjustment means located on the underside of the watch movementadjacent the bottom wall of the watch case, and access means mounted onthe Bottom wall of the watch case for providing access to the internaloscillator circuit adjustment means for fine tuning the frequency ofoscillation of said oscillator circuit.
 2. The watch according to claim1 in which the top wall is permanently secured to the side wall of thewatch case adjacent the upper peripherial edge thereof, in which thebottom wall is adapted to be releasably secured to the side walladjacent the lower peripheral edge thereof, and in which the watchmovement is secured to the inner surface of the bottom wall of the watchcase prior to securing the bottom wall to the side wall of the watchcase.
 3. The watch according to claim 2 in which the bottom wall isprovided with a vertically extending inner flange portion, said innerflange portion being adapted to fit snugly within and in contact withthe inner surface of the side wall of the watch case, said bottom wallbeing secured to said side wall by the snug contact fit of said innerflange portion with the inner surface of said side wall.
 4. The watchaccording to claim 3 in which a gasket is disposed between facingsurfaces of the side wall and the bottom wall to provide a waterresistant seal therebetween.
 5. The watch according to claim 1 in whichthe access means on the bottom wall of the watch case comprises aremovable screw plug.